Kaiman in State of Town Address: “North Hempstead Solid, Storm-Ready and Stable”

Port Washington, NY--Shortfalls in mortgage and sales tax revenues have stunned municipalities Island-wide but despite the troubling economic downturn, North Hempstead, even with a diminished budget, remains “solid, storm-ready, and stable,” Supervisor Jon Kaiman declared last Wednesday in his 5th annual State of the Town Address.

Hosted by the league of Women Voters of Port Washington-Manhasset, the event at the Harbor Links Golf Course clubhouse marked the start of Kaiman’s sixth year as town Supervisor.

“We are well aware that our residents and businesses are shouldering the burden of a sluggish economy and weak real estate market,” Supervisor Kaiman told a 150-strong audience which braved icy conditions to attend the early afternoon address. “But North Hempstead has responded to the crisis by utilizing reserve funds, capitalizing on our large pool of grants obtained over the last five years, sharing costs and services, issuing a small tax increase and reducing our annual expenditures.” Kaiman said.

Among the new initiatives for 2009, Supervisor Kaiman announced the town-wide roll out of Project Independence, a program designed to help North Hempstead’s growing population of seniors “age in place.” The program, which is linked to the Town’s 311 system, provides such services as social worker assistance, health screenings and immunizations, information and referral, support and other community programming. It will be accessible to every senior throughout North Hempstead in a phased, community by community roll-out, beginning early this year.

With the expansion of Project Independence, the growing participation in town-sponsored events and community programs, Kaiman proposed the reorganization of the Community Services Department into two separate entities to better meet the needs of constituents.

One of them, the Department of Senior Services, would primarily focus on Project Independence allowing the Town to provide much needed services for the fast-growing segment of the town’s population, Kaiman said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Community Services will be reorganized to focus on community events, outreach and volunteer coordination, and activities for residents of all ages.

Supervisor Kaiman spotlighted one of the projects that have become a hallmark of his administration, town-wide comprehensive recycling program. It’s in gear and is gaining momentum, he said. The initiative, which so far has put recycling containers in the Town’s network of parks and town buildings, has partnered with most of North Hempstead’s 11 school districts to “institutionalize” recycling among the youth, Kaiman said.

“The Town will also commit to developing a plan to manage the collection of all recyclables from our partners, saving schools, businesses and parks money while ensuring that what is collected is actually recycled,” Supervisor Kaiman added.

He noted that plans are ongoing to expand the recycling effort—negotiations are shaping up, for instance, to outfit Long Island Rail Road stations in the town with recycling receptacles—by working with the business community to get recycling ingrained in the fabric of the town.